LeviathanTempest:TehomDevotion

The School of the Abyss

(Tehom’s Devotion, The Sunken School)

[Picture: The Symbol of Tehom’s Devotion: An Anglerfish underwater. The light from the anglerfish illuminates hazy shapes of ziggurats and spiraling towers, just at the edge of vision. This serves as a watermark]

[Picture: Central. A young and pale woman, blonde and distressingly thin, sits cross-legged on the floor in a simple white shift. Her eyes are closed and cosmetically blackened, and her hands are in a meditative position in her lap. Eight tentacles extend from her back and shoulders, each holding an old-style oil lantern, but deliberately coiled around it to cut off most of the light. A coiling shape of black water rises unnaturally from a bowl in front of her.]

This world is wrong. Those members of the Tribe that ascribe to the School of the Abyss understand this on a level that their fellows do not. So they seek answers elsewhere – they return to the waters that spawned them. The foremost scholars of the Deep, they are explorers and mystics, seeking out Tranquility in the vast and silent vistas of the remnants of the Primordial ocean.

The Devotees of the School of the Abyss focus their energies towards exploring their history and place in the world in terms of the Deep, which they understand as the closest specimen to pre-disruption life that is still accessible. They concern themselves with understanding the Deep both as a physical location – they spend a lot of time there, compared to other Devotees – and as a state of mind. Some practice meditation or turn to earthly spiritualism as a stepping-stone to perfecting a system that can place the mind of the Devotee in touch with their past.

The School claims its philosophical underpinning in the recognition that the Leviathan are, for all intents and purposes, alien to the human world. For all that they can maintain a strained connection and stave off corruption with great effort, they are ultimately unsuited for the world in which they are placed. The average Devotee of the Abyss comes to the conclusion, then, that they need to find a space in which they are not alien – even if that “space” is a state of mind. Exploration of the Deep allows a fuller understanding of the self and the ability to come to terms with one’s true lineage; from this flows Tranquility.

Membership

Most Tribe members that find themselves in Tehom’s Devotion were inquisitive and introverted even before they became aware of their true nature. Others were almost the complete opposite. The only key factor in following the Sunken School is a feeling of alienation and isolation, one that drives the Tribe member to look for a place where they do belong. While other Devotees might locate that place in an action or a role, the School of the Abyss seeks to return to what they were.

Poets and philosophers are remarkably common among the School, as are former nature enthusiasts and artists. The School of the Abyss privileges an understanding of historical relics as clues to peace of mind, and so Devotees tend to be among those that look at an object and see it for its emotional or symbolic effect, rather than hard data.

There is a prejudiced assumption that Tananim, seen as an aggressive “martial” lineage, are under-represented in the introverted School of the Abyss. There is no proof of this claim, however, but those making the claim are generally uninterested in that in any case.

Transformation

The School of the Abyss is a school of stillness, patience, and receptivity. This manifests as dark forms and soft lines, as well as large, aware eyes. As scholars of the Depths and seekers in quiet places, they tend towards forms that suggest the spineless life that exists in the ocean’s farthest reaches – markers of the squid, the octopus, and startling deep-sea fish are common. However, their final goal is the illumination of these depths – like most deep-sea life, patches of bioluminescence are also common, or pools of light shining out from great, staring eyes.

Character Creation

The nature of the explorations undertaken by members of Tehom’s Devotion leans them primarily in the direction of Resistance Attributes. They delve deeply into both their own minds and the reaches of the Deep, and this takes patience and resolve. Composure is usually staggering.

The primary focus, as much as any develops, leans towards Social Skills. While the average, reserved member of the Sunken School is not themselves a social dynamo, they are perceptive, self-aware, and in touch with emotions – most have a high level of Empathy and are capable at Subterfuge. Mental Skills such as Investigation and Occult are a close second, and most have, by necessity, developed some competence at Survival – those that travel rarely do so with companions, and often have to fend for themselves.

Most Devotees of the Abyss maintain small, quiet Cults, with little focus on blood-rites and reverential fanaticism and more direction towards quiet reserve and meditation on small, key facts. Their Cults are often Resolute, as their master must often disappear for months at a time, following some obscure clue or impulse. Their Social Merits are similarly reserved – enough to get by, but not much beyond it. This is both effect and cause – most members of the Sunken School feel that they simply “don’t fit” in the mortal world. It’s why they joined the Sunken School to begin with.

Role

In any given Cohort, the role of the Devotee of the Abyss is usually that of the world traveler and authority on the Deep. While every Leviathan travels into the Deep from time to time, Tehom’s Devotion is made up of those that truly live there. They know the shortcuts and the hazards. Their other function is as watchdogs. The degree to which they perceive the state of their own and others’ minds means that, if any member of a local community is starting to spiral out of control, the School of the Abyss will know first. If the problem case is the Devotee of the Abyss, it usually goes unknown until it’s far too late.

What the Devotee of the Abyss gets, in return for her advice, is somewhat less concrete. For all that they claim to be escaping the world, the School of the Abyss is mostly about fleeing from something that makes them uncomfortable. Socialization is necessary even for the Wicked Tribe, and an isolated member of the Sunken School usually loses all connection to themselves well before they find "inner peace."

Vestige

The School of the Abyss has a focus on the pursuit of exploration and introspection. As such, they develop gifts that permit them to swim farther and deeper, see with more precision, and perceive inner truths.

The School of the Abyss grants a discount on purchasing Adaptations of the Vestiges of Vitality and Awareness.

Traditions

Members of the School of the Abyss may select a free specialization for one of the following Skills: Investigation, Survival, or Empathy.

Concepts

Frustrated artist, park ranger, antiques dealer, isolated biologist, adventurous anthropologist, surfing guru, modern primitve

Quote

"We don't fit in this world. Nothing's our size, nothing's strong enough, nothing can give us the truth. If you want to figure things out, you've got to shut your eyes and listen to the small traces of wisdom that still linger, out where no-one's trod them over yet."

Stereotypes

• School of the Sun: "Talking about how great Mom and Dad are isn’t going to make them come visit."
• School of Clay: "Did you know that some whales beach themselves – repeatedly? I don’t know why I just thought of that."
• School of the Reef: "You’re wasting your strength fighting on the wrong battlefield."
• School of Fog: "You wait here. I can swim farther by myself."

• Typhons: "A tragic reminder of the sort of fight we have to avoid having."
• Hybrids: "Abominations – but pitiable. They exist in a world that doesn't suit them. Not unlike us."
• Other Creatures: "I have seen them, but they haven't seen me. Let's keep it that way. I don't plan on staying long."
• Mortals: "Let them have their world, as long as they stay out of mine."

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